Bible Glide

Zechariah 11

Zechariah 11 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Zechariah 11 presents a warning scene of judgment, rejected care, and broken trust. The chapter shows a flock in danger, a shepherd turned away, and a small payment that reveals how little the shepherd is valued. It also points to division, loss, and the rise of an unworthy ruler.

Read in ReaderShare Passage

What happens in Zechariah 11?

The chapter opens with a call for mourning over fallen glory and ruined leadership. God tells the prophet to care for a flock marked for slaughter, but the people, their buyers, and their shepherds show little compassion. The prophet uses two staffs named Favor and Union, then breaks them to show the ending of protection and brotherhood. He is offered thirty pieces of silver, which he throws to the potter in the house of the LORD. The chapter ends with a warning about a foolish shepherd who will not care for the flock and will bring further harm.

Zechariah 11 stands in the section of the book that moves from hope and restoration to warning and judgment. It follows promises of gathering and strength, but here the focus shifts to failed leadership, national fracture, and the cost of rejecting God's care. The signs in this chapter prepare the reader for the sharper conflict and future hope that follow in chapter 12.

Themes to notice

  • Rejected leadershipThe chapter shows shepherds who fail their duty and a flock that suffers under their neglect.
  • Judgment and lossBroken staffs, ruined trees, and a doomed flock picture the results of turning from God's care.
  • Valued poorlyThe thirty pieces of silver show how little the shepherd is honored before being cast aside.

Questions for Zechariah 11

  • What do the broken staffs of Favor and Union communicate about the people and their future?
  • Why is the payment of thirty pieces of silver important in this chapter?
  • What warnings does the foolish shepherd give about leadership without compassion?

Read the full text of Zechariah 11 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Zechariah 11

The Doomed Flock

1Open your doors, O Lebanon,

that the fire may consume your cedars!

2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen;

the majestic trees are ruined!

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

for the dense forest has been cut down!

3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,

for their glory is in ruins.

Listen to the roaring of the young lions,

for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

4This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,5whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.6For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”

7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.8And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.9Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”

Thirty Pieces of Silver

10Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.11It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.12Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.14Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.16For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.

17Woe to the worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May a sword strike his arm

and his right eye!

May his arm be completely withered

and his right eye utterly blinded!”

Keep studying

Save notes and ask about Zechariah 11

Create a free account to keep highlights and notes across devices, or open Bible Glide Chat with this passage already attached.

Create Free AccountAsk About This Passage